Driving Sustainable Progress

Absolut vodka is one of the premium spirits brands that we represent in Canada through our affiliation with Pernod Ricard (PR). Looking to rebound after a challenging year for the brand (and for the vodka category as a whole), we sat down with the brand owner in Sweden and our PR colleagues in the US to create something different in fiscal 2019 that would resonate with North Americans and separate Absolut from the rest. From this, the idea of Planet Earth’s Favourite Vodka was born.

When we needed Absolut to stand up and stand out, we came up with a campaign that hit all the right notes.

“Absolut has always believed in using its voice to champion a more progressive society, most notably supporting the LGBTQ community since the early 1980s,” said Daniel Flecker, Senior Brand Manager, Absolut Vodka, Kahlúa and Malibu. “But we hadn’t talked as much about the bigger sustainability story and what the brand was doing to support a more sustainable planet.”

Absolut is produced near the small village of Åhus, Sweden, in one of the most energy-efficient distilleries in the world.* All ingredients, including non-GMO grains, are sourced from local farms, and the protein-rich byproduct from the raw spirit distillation is fed to pigs and cows in the area.

Absolut has always believed in using its voice to champion a more progressive society, most notably supporting the LGBTQ community since the early 1980s.

The Planet Earth’s Favourite Vodka campaign was piloted in Canada in the fall of 2018, beginning with billboards that highlighted the brand’s sustainability and inclusivity attributes. Our PR colleagues in the US launched their interpretation of the campaign on Earth Day in 2019.

The results so far? Very encouraging, with improvements in key brand equity measures. By the end of the fiscal year, Absolut was back to growth, gaining 1.7% in retail volume compared to 2018. We’ll be using the Planet Earth’s Favourite Vodka platform to build awareness and consideration of Absolut vodka on a mass scale throughout the coming year – while continuing the brand’s mission of inspiring others to do what’s right for one another and for the generations that follow.